Autism News, 2017/04/21

April is Autism Month – Autism Awareness Month to some, and Autism Acceptance Month to others, and sometimes just the annoying month where we have to listen to more Autism Speaks propaganda than usual – so there’s been a lot of news!

S.E. Smith on why more disabled people are employed in some US states than others

The U.S. Supreme Court recently made an important decision about disability and the death penalty. (For anyone who needs more evidence about why representation in fiction matters, this article describes how the state of Texas has literally been evaluating people’s eligibility for the death penalty based on their resemblance to a fictional character.)

Julia Bascom, executive director of ASAN, talks about the new autistic muppet on Sesame Street

Sad things:

Lifestyle Solutions, an Australian nonprofit that manages group homes for disabled people, is under investigation for abuse and neglect causing a series of deaths. (TW: In addition to what it says on the can, there is also mention of sexual assault. I have not watched the video that accompanies the article but, based on the description, would not recommend doing so.)

Amelia Hill interviews three autistic mothers of autistic children(TW: all three mothers discuss, among other things, a fear of social services taking their children away; abuse by third parties is also mentioned.)